Uhhh, I've got mixed feelings on this one. Big fan of the original Hades here. I know most people probably play these games because the gods are hotties, but I really enjoyed the roguelite progression in the first one. They struck a great balance between getting more minor upgrades after each run, while also making each run harder via the Heat system. And that's still mostly the case here, so I really like that about this game too.

But besides that this sequel appeals less to me than the original. The minor buffs you got in Hades 1 are now cards that you have to manually select which buff you want and which you don't. And this is just super boring to me.

'Hmm, do I want the upgrade that gives me 2% more magic per combat or the one that gives some of my attacks 3% chance to deal double damage?'
Nothing feels more amazing than buying a new card that sounds interesting only to not have the grasp to equip it.

The game already gets more difficult the more you play, with this game's version of the Pact of Punishment. So fiddling around in boring menus deciding which cards to select, which resource tool I use for this run, and which keepsake fits best here each and every time became very tedious very quickly.

I'm sure the designer of this game could in excruciating detail explain why making all the buffs like this is more 'fair' than just stacking them over the whole game like in Hades 1. But the way I perceive it, the game almost feels overdesigned. Every, little, thing is optimized and tested to be either too good or too bad. And it just flattens the experience for me. Getting a boon is a pick between a bunch of options that aren't going to feel great when I pick them up. They're again just minor buffs that are just good enough to not make the game feel unfair.

I won't go over every mechanic that's in the game or I'll never finish this log, but as a final example I want to highlight the new weapons. None of them felt exciting to use when I first picked them. They were all kinda eh. Not good nor bad weapons. Maybe with the exception of the torches. That one just feels lame to use. And now your attacks, specials and cats have an OMEGA version that use a limited magic-type resource each combat. These are far cooler but again limited use. So now there are twice as many things to upgrade and dillute the pool of boons with. It's rare when I find a cool synergy in this game, while it happened almost every run in Hades 1.

A new region that's been added is one where the maps are huge and you can roam around in freely. Whatever good pacing there was in your run grinds to a halt here, as I'd look around every corner of the map to find the rewards that were necessary to continue. It's not like the game would be too short if there wasn't a scavanger hunt in the middle. The bosses are way beefier than they were in the original and already do a great job padding the game out further. Especially the last two bosses will often do attacks that force you to stay back and wait until it's safe to damage them again.

Credit where credit's due, the final boss is amazing aesthetically. It's much more grandiose than the snow fight with Hades. Love it!

I'll give the game another shot when it's out of EA and update this log with my final thoughts.

Really frustrating, really gorgeous, really fun. I wish the game valued depth over breadth. Act 3 completely falls apart under its own weight. Too many quests, too many unfulfilled promises of characters you saw the previous two acts, too many bugs, the pacing is horrendous while the previous two were as tight as can be. Endless waves to bring to mind Dragon Age 2, replacing difficulty with simple numbers to bring mild variety to how much running around talking to NPCs completely unrelated to the main plot you do. This isn't helped by the fact it remains so buggy that at certain points the game feels like it's actively fighting against you as you play it, with guards seeing through walls, NPCs running through walls and out of existence, characters hitting nothing mid-air and falling to their deaths, etc. They need to focus on these instead of removing homoeroticism.

But it is a beautiful game. The world feels good to be in, the characters are likeable and wonderfully voiced. The voice acting of the main cast in this are a testament to the beauty and legitimacy of the artform of voice acting. So much of this game is carried on the shoulders of these incredible performances, and they never falter.

My main complaint with them is they all feel rather edgeless. And Larian further sands off any remaining, because people felt hurt by Lae'zel's bluntness, or Wyll's narcissism. It's a shame the company is so insecure over their writing, and I'm sad to admit it makes me think less of it as a whole.

But I'll always be happy I played it. And there's not really more I'd want as a creator than for someone to feel that way about my work.

Combat is the crux of the overworld interactions, the flux system is the crux of combat. Starsector's greatest achievement is in how it is able to provide satisfying friction to the gameplay in every facet of its design. The secret to that is the incorporation of the sandbox elements in every pore through extreme dynamism. In short: the hands-off elements feed into the hands-on ones and vice versa which provides some kind of friction to every action the player does. What this means for the player is constant reevaluation of their choices and decisions if they want to succeed in whatever goal they set for themselves. It's incredibly immersive in that regard, reaching heights i've never seen reached before in a video game. Add to that the clever inclusion of arcadey abstractions where it counts in a genre that usually screams realism and you've got yourself a winner.

One of the greatest and rawest games ever made without the shadow of the doubt. The fact that everything gameplay related was basically made by one dude is insane to me.